Did you KNOW?

a. Just like crabs and lobsters prawns too must shed their shells as they grow bigger.

b. One of the main differences between prawns and their relatives, crabs and lobsters, is that prawns swim around in the water while crabs and lobsters are able to crawl on the sand.

c. Prawns and shrimps start off their four year life cycle as males and then change into females for their final year. Amazing!

d. There are over 300 different species of prawns and shrimp found in all parts of the world.

e. As with lobsters and crabs, there are cold water and warm water prawns and shrimps. Cold water prawns are located in cold water oceans such as Atlantic and Arctic, whilst warm water prawns and shrimps are located in warm water oceans such as the Pacific and Indian oceans.

f. Prawns and shrimps can be green, pink, brown, blue, white or yellow in colour before cooking, and turn pink with white meat after cooking.

PRAWN OR SHIRMP?

What is a PRAWN and what is a SHRIMP?

Is there a vast difference between the two? These are some question which might cross your mind when you ponder over buying some of these delicacies from the local fish market or while ordering an appetizing sound dish to accompany your main course. Well look no further because we have the answer right here.

In the US the generally used term is the ‘shrimp’ while the term ‘prawn’ is widely used in UK. However according to some people and cook books the term ‘prawn’ is reserved for the larger species. However, the truth is that there is indeed a slight difference between the two. The key to this rests on their grill structure. Experts reveal that prawns have a branching gill structure whilst the gill structure of shrimps is lamellar.


Another difference is found in the way the two brood their eggs. A prawn has longer legs than the shrimp and a shrimp’s front pair of pincers is larger, whilst a prawn’s second pair of pincers is bigger. Both species belong to the same family as crabs and lobsters, Decapod crustaceans which mean that they possess 10 legs and a hard shell to cover their body. The confusion arises because both varieties are somewhat similar in size and looks. 

Thinking of the future…

With the resounding success of the first two cycles of the farm, Mr. Yanase and my father decided of forward integration. The idea ended up by building an ultra modern factory in 1997 in Chilaw which was one of the most technologically sound factories in the country at that time.

The factory was built exactly in one year under the guidance and supervision of Mitsubishi Corporation of Japan. My father was sent by Mitsubishi to visit various factories of them in Singapore, Malaysia in order to get the needed knowledge in crafting this factory to the same standards.

The factory comprised with blast & plate freezing technology, cold rooms which can hold up to 80 metric tons, ice plant, water purification system, loading facilities up to 80 workers and many other facilities which were not having in most of the seafood processing factories those days.

Once the operations started it turned out to be a real success. Within 2 years of setting up of the factory we have shipped more than 90 shipments to Mitsubishi Corporation alone which can be identified as a remarkable achievement. Most of the time the factory ran for 3 shifts, virtually all 24 hours providing a wealth of employment opportunities to most of the village youth.

Indiwary Aqua processing plant specialized mainly on shrimp and crabs initially, however diversified themselves into other seafood products such as cuttlefish, squid and fish depending on the market demand.
When I look back at the past all I can see is a perfectly crafted forward integration strategy, by two gentlemen who were passionate in business. Even though they haven’t known about all these business jargon which we learn today they have used it to perfection almost two decades back without getting consultancy of any guru’s in strategy.                                 

Mr. Hisashi Yanase

He was a Japanese citizen. He was a frequent traveler to Sri Lanka. Business was not the main reason why he came to Sri Lanka. It was golf. He was a great golfer. Colombo Royal golf club was his main attraction. Even before my father came to know him, he had visited Sri Lanka for more than 14 times.

My father met him for the first time at the Golf Club. He was a businessman or an investor to be precise. He had business ventures back in Japan as well. The idea about starting a prawn farm as a Japanese collaboration was welcomed by him eagerly.

As a start Indiwary Aqua (Pvt) Ltd was set up as a BOI venture. Mr. Yanase acted as the Chairman; my father was the Managing Director and mother being the sole Directress.

During the same period a prawn farming facility was put on action by the government. It was a model prawn farm developed using the funds of Asia Development Bank (ADB) for inland fisheries. Thus it was the most ideal location identified those days for prawn farming. The facility comprised of all the facilities & equipment required to carry out a quality farming operation. My father’s bid for the tender turned out to be the highest. The bid was a thumping amount of Rs. 66Mn at that time. Further in order to bring the facility which was closed down for quite some time they spent more than another Rs. 40Mn.

I can still remember how the jungles were cleaned using heavy vehicle machinery. After the lapse of about 4 months the farm was ready for stocking for the first time.

The first 2 cycles were extremely successful. The prawns grew for a record size of more than 45g. There was a very high harvest and it went in headlines in newspapers. Mr. Yanase was very happy on the progress of his investment and there was a great relationship developing between him and our family.

He was like a grandfather to us. Every time when we heard that he is coming to Sri Lanka we eagerly await till that day. It’s a great joy for him to take hundreds of photographs of our family in different times.

Days pass by… May father build an empire

Orders for shark fin exports grew day by day. My father was soon became the largest shark fin exporter in the country. He exported to Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, China and many more countries.

My father by nature is someone who is looking for new opportunities all the time. He was not someone who can be satisfied with the current position. He always looked at the bigger picture. But he always liked the fair play in the trade and did not like to stab anyone on the back in achieving success.

Early 90’s saw another turn in the seafood exports industry. This was the time when prawn culture was developing in Sri Lanka. Multinational organizations such as Carsons Cumberbatch, Unilever were the pioneers in the prawn culture. With the little experience my father had in the seafood exports at that time he was able to understand the potential of the prawn culture in the coming years.

He wanted to venture into prawn culture. He knew that he would need a partner if he was to enter into this trade. He went in search of foreign buyers. His efforts paid off. He found a Japanese partner by the name Mr. Hishasi Yanase. This meeting made a drastic turnaround in our lives.
If I were to look back at the past if this meeting wouldn’t have happened, things would have been quite different. Thus I feel it is important that I spend some time on explaining about who Mr. Yanase is and how this meeting occurred…

Facts about me & who I am?

I started this blog about 4 years back.

This was initially started as a part of a project work for the degree. Thereafter this was non functional for quite some time. Only last week that it clicked my mind that I should again resurrect this old piece of work.

Initially when I published this site I preferred to stay on the basis of anonymity since this was originally planned as an academic piece of work. Thus I did not reveal the exact connection of me to the content of the site. Someone who is known would surely derive the link but for many it would be hard to grasp.

In the earlier posts I have spoken about a seafood processing factory which my father owns. But very less had been written thereafter.

When I was glancing through the blog it suddenly clicked my mind that I should published the legendary story of our family business which my father created. Some might argue that ‘legendary’ is not the most appropriate word, but for me it seems as the more ideal since no one other than who is gifted with some special power would be able to build such a business in quite a succession.

To introduce me I am Indiwary Silva (Fernando). My father was Milroy Fernando & my mother is Vajira.

Almost 2 decades back my father was working for Union Carbide (producers of Eveready batteries). Even though he was working there he always wanted to excel in a business of his own. He was from Negombo which was famous for seafood, and my father saw seafood as a business with a future. He saw the future in this business in a larger scale than most of the others saw. He always wanted to start an export business in seafood.

In early 90’s Union Carbide selected my father and a few others to be sent on a training mission to Malaysia. For my father this was important in 2 ways. Firstly this was a training mission for my father. Secondly this was a mission in search of seafood buyers.

My father wanted to find buyers but he was not 100% sure as to how to find a good buyer. His break came in a surprising way. There was a servant in our home those days and whose sister was in Malaysia. Upon hearing my father’s trip to Malaysia he wanted to send a parcel to his sister. My father also took it. One day in Malaysia after his training, my father sets himself to find this home where this servant boy’s sister worked. My father finds her, hand over the parcel, and asks just because of the curiosity whether she knew anyone who would be interested to buy seafood from Sri Lanka. The response was overwhelming. The destiny has bought my father to the home of one of the biggest Shark Fin importers in Malaysia. The sister of the servant boy quickly sets up an appointment for my father with this Malaysian and the meeting ends up with a success. He was a gentleman by the name of Lin which bought my father the success.

Upon arrival in Sri Lanka my father takes up the new challenge in learning about shark fins. Even though my father was from Negombo, fish exports are totally a new experience to him. He learnt fast. Does the first trail order and the buyer starts to request more volumes. My father initially sends the required quantity from Negombo, but when the time passes by & when the demand increases moves to collect shark fins from the southern coast as well. Always Mr.Lin used to send some extra money than what he promised for a shipment, as a gratitude for the quality and the devotion my father had for the business. He does office work during office hours and concentrates on the export business afterwards. My mother was a strong pillar in supporting him for his endeavors.

One day the Mr. Lin made an open offer for my father. That is to give up the job at Union Carbide and start to do shark fin exports full time. It was a challenging offer. In return my father had one question to ask. That was, if the demand for shark fins diminishes one day, whether Mr. Lin would still support him to take care of his family. Mr. Lin trusted my father more than a business partner and wanted his company more than ever before. Thus after discussing with my mother my father decided to give up his job which he was in for more than 15 years and venture into a new business.

That was how my father, Milroy Fernando entered into seafood business in the early 90’s.

Intermission…